Winemaker Notes
This wine has a delicate, floral nose of acacia flowers. In the mouth, lush stone fruit flavors of peach and apricot give way to a hints of honeysuckle and citrus in the finish. Clairette gives a lot of freshness to this wine for years to come. Traces of salinity help to balance this elegant, yet unctuous white Châteauneuf du Pape.
Blend: 60% Clairette, 40% Roussanne
Try it with scallops, lobster, or even sushi.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Lots of stone fruits, tangerine, white flowers, and honeyed mineral notes emerge from the 2020 Châteauneuf Du Pape Blanc, a beautifully balanced, medium-bodied, seamless white that has bright acidity and a great finish. It's another terrific white from this team that readers will love to drink over the coming 3-5 years or so. This is a 60/40 split of Clairette and Roussanne, aged all in demi-muids.
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Vinous
The 2020 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc shows fragrant tertiary characteristics. It opens with bright aromas of dried ginger, jasmine, baked apple, mango, honey and hints of petrol. Coming in at a moderate 13.5% alcohol, this 2020 is a medium-bodied, delicate white with bright acidity and a clean finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A blend of 60% Clairette and 40% Roussanne, the 2020 Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc features subtle cedar and vanilla shadings set against a backdrop of ripe white peaches, Anjou pear and mixed citrus. It's medium to full-bodied, silky and even a bit broad across the mid palate, then fresh, citrusy and zesty on the long finish. Tasted twice (once blind), with consistent notes.
Full-bodied and flavorful, white Rhône blends originate from France’s Rhône Valley. Today these blends are also becoming popular in other regions. Typically some combination of Grenache Blanc, Marsanne, Roussanne and Viognier form the basis of a white Rhône blend with varying degrees of flexibility depending on the exact appellation. Somm Secret—In the Northern Rhône, blends of Marsanne and Roussanne are common but the south retains more variety. Marsanne, Roussanne as well as Bourboulenc, Clairette, Picpoul and Ugni Blanc are typical.
Famous for its full-bodied, seductive and spicy reds with flavor and aroma characteristics reminiscent of black cherry, baked raspberry, garrigue, olive tapenade, lavender and baking spice, Châteauneuf-du-Pape is the leading sub-appellation of the southern Rhône River Valley. Large pebbles resembling river rocks, called "galets" in French, dominate most of the terrain. The stones hold heat and reflect it back up to the low-lying gobelet-trained vines. Though the galets are typical, they are not prominent in every vineyard. Chateau Rayas is the most obvious deviation with very sandy soil.
According to law, eighteen grape varieties are allowed in Châteauneuf-du-Pape and most wines are blends of some mix of these. For reds, Grenache is the star player with Mourvedre and Syrah coming typically second. Others used include Cinsault, Counoise and occasionally Muscardin, Vaccarèse, Picquepoul Noir and Terret Noir.
Only about 6-7% of wine from Châteauneuf-du-Pape is white wine. Blends and single-varietal bottlings are typically based on the soft and floral Grenache Blanc but Clairette, Bourboulenc and Roussanne are grown with some significance.
The wine of Chateauneuf-du-Pape takes its name from the relocation of the papal court to Avignon. The lore says that after moving in 1309, Pope Clément V (after whom Chateau Pape-Clément in Pessac-Léognan is named) ordered that vines were planted. But it was actually his successor, John XXII, who established the vineyards. The name however, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, translated as "the pope's new castle," didn’t really stick until the 19th century.